Quickly removable boot



Sept. 29, 1942. L. H. LHOLLIER 3,297,657

. QUICKLY REMOVABLE BOOT Filed March 27, 1941 Patented Sept. 29, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFmE QUICKLY REMOVABLE BOOT Leslie H. LHollier, waltham, Mass., assignor-to The B. F. Goodrich Comp ny, New York, N. Y.,

a corporation of New York Application March 27, 1941, Serial 170,385,430

Claims.

sengers, to wear heavy garments insulated against conduction of heat. Footwear suitable for such operations has usually been made of rubber and fabric or leather lined heavily with sheep wool or similar insulating material, and

has been of such weight, especially when wet, 'las to have been a hazard to the wearer in case of a crash over water or where the operator has been forced to land in water, as by use of a parachute, as such footwear has been difflcult to remove quickly.

The present invention aims to overcome the foregoing and other difficulties.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide quick detachability, as by a single pulling movement of a fastener to open the boot completely for removal from the foot, to provide security of fastening during wear, to provide accessibility of manipulating means, and to provide adequate protection to the wearer.

These and other objects will appear from the following description and the accompanying drawing.

Of the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an article of footwear embodying the invention, .the fastening means being shown in secured position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the fastener means in its opened position.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the handle means.

-In accordance with the present invention, a

. warm heavy boot .suitable for use-in aviation is formed with a vent or opening extending from near the sole to the top of the upper, and preferably in the region of the .toe, the margins-of the upper adjacent the. vent are secured to the completely separable stringers of a separable fastener structure adapted to be closed by downward movement and to be opened and also detached by asingle movement of a slider element upwardly toward the top of the upper, and

handle means is provided for securing the slider in its lower or closed position and for quick manipulation by a single movement in opening the boot, which handle means'preferably is detachably'mounted also at its free end so as to be in the most convenient position forbeing quickly grasped.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral designates an article of footwear in the form of a low boot for use by aviators and generally comprising an uppper having a short, vamp ll preferably of leather or'cloth, and quarters 'l2 of pliable and preferably waterproof material,.

such as rubber or rubberized fabric, a one-piece toe and counter reinforcement l3 of waterproof material extending thereover to the height of the heel and providing a waterproof reinforcement,

and a rubber sole l4 vulcanized to the upper. The entire article is lined with a sheared or unsheared sheep leather lining IS with the wool side turned toward the foot of the wearer to provide warmth. The upper is formed with a vent l6 extending from near the sole to the top of the upper and preferably at the front of the boot.

A separable fastener I! has its flexible stringers l8, l9 secured to the upper along the margins defining the vent preferably by cement and sewed means, and a reinforcement 29 of soft leather is applied to the upper around the vent as by stitched seams to reinforce the opening. A leather binding 2| is also applied over the top margin of the upper and is sewed thereto. Ankle stay strips 22 are also secured over the quarters to provide additional strength in' that region. 0 These may be of leather and sewed to the quarters so as to extend diagonally from the counter portion to the vent reinforcement, the strip 22 extending under the counter reinforcement l3 and under the strip 20 and being secured thereto by stitches. Atongue '23 preferably. of soft leather having a lining of sheared or unsheared sheep leather is provided beneath the vent and is preferably secured to the upper along one of its vent margins as well as to'the vamp at the toe. a i The slide fastener I1 is of a construction in which the fastener elements 24 areengaged or disengaged from each other by a slider element 25 having cam surfaces to manipulate the slider which the slider 25 may be completely separated from one of the stringers by endwise movement. The fastener is mounted on the boot in such relation that the fastener elements are engaged by downward movement of the slider 25 toward the toe of the boot and disengaged by movement of the slider in-the opposite direction or toward the top of the'boot, the arrangement being such that by grasping the tab 26 of the slider and pulling the slider up the leg the fastener elements elements into inter-engaging relation, and in are completely separated at the top as well as along the margins so that the boot may be dofied easily and quickly.

To provideagainst accidental opening of the fastener and to provide for maintaining a part in a position for ready manipulation thereof by with each other when the slider is at its lowest position, as shown in Fig. l. The strap 21 is preferably made relatively still to provide a strut, and for this purpose the leather may be rolled between its ends to provide a 'tubular cross-section with its margins sewed together as at 3|.

The strap is preferably bowed between its ends so as. to stand clear of the upper, as shown in Fig. 1, providing a handle which may be grasped quickly by the wearer even with thick gloves on his hands for quick dofling of the shoes in an emergency such as landing in water. The fastening of the snap fastener element keeps the strap in bowed condition and holds the slider at its lowest position. A stop 32 attached to one of the stringers i8 prevents withdrawing the slider completely from that side of the fastener, and a guide element 33 at the top of the other stringer is employed for guiding the slider into fastenerelement-engaging position when closing the boot.

In securing the boot after it is on the foot, the

element 33 is inserted in theslider and the slider is pushed along the stringers to its lowest position where the strap handle is secured by means of the snap fastener elements. In domng the boot, the wearer merely grasps: the strap handle and pulls upwardly releasing the snap fastener and opening the vent completely by a single movement.

While it is preferred to have the vent opening a in the front of the shoe where the fastener is located for convenient operation, such a vent may be located at a side of the article or at the heel if desired.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A quickly removable article of footwear comprising a foot covering having a vent extending from the region of the toe to the top of the covering, a fully separable slide fastener for said vent having inter-engageable fastening elements secured at opposite margins of the vent and a slider having means movably engaging said elements to open said vent completely by movement of the slider to the top of the upper and to close said vent by movement of the slider toward the toe of the article, said article having a strap-like handle fixed at one end to said slider and removably secured at its opposite end to the covering at a position above the closed position of the slider and near saidvent in a position for ready grasping of the handle.

2. A quickly removable aviators boot comprising a foot covering having a vent extending from the region of the toe to the top of the covering, a fully separable slide fastener for said vent having inter-engageable fastening elements secured at opposite margins of the vent and a slider operable therealong and having means removably engaging said elements to open said vent by movement of the slider to the top of the upper and to open said vent by movement of the slider toward the toe of the article, said article having a strap-like handle fixed at one end to said slider and removably secured at its opposite end to the covering at a position above the closed position of the slider and near said vent, said handle being bowed to stand clear of the foot covering in its secured position for ready grasping of the handle.

3. A quickly removable boot for aviators and the like, said bootcomprising a foot covering having a closed bottom over the sole and heel portions and an upper portion formed with a vent extending from the top of the upper toward the bottom of the boot, and a fully separable fastener for said vent having inter-engageable fastening elements secured at opposite margins of the vent, said fastener comprising manual slider means arranged and adapted to inter-engage said elements by movement of the slider means from the top of the boot toward its bottom and to disengage said elements completely by a single movement of the slider means toward the top of the boot.

4. A quickly removable boot for aviators and the like, said boot comprising a foot covering having a closed bottom over the sole and heel portions and an upper portion formed with a vent extending from the top of the upper toward the bottom of the boot, a fully separable fastener for said vent having inter-engageable fastening elements secured at opposite margins of the vent, said fastener comprising manual slider means arranged and adapted to engage said elements by movement from the top of the boot toward its bottom and to disengage them completely by a single movement of the slider means toward the top of the boot, and handle means for operating said slider means, said handle means extending outwardly from said covering in a manner for ready grasping by the wearer.

5. A quickly removable boot for aviators and the like, said boot comprising a foot covering having a closed bottom over the sole and heel portions and an upper portion formed with a vent extending from the top of the upper toward the bottom of the boot, a fully separable fastener for said vent having inter-engageable fastening elements secured at opposite margins of the vent.

' said fastener comprising manual slider means closed position against sliding movement and disengageable by operation of said handle means. LESLIE H. L'I-IOILIER. 

